-a food blog by K.P. Wee, author of "The 1988 Dodgers: Reliving the Championship Season," "John Cangelosi: The Improbable Baseball Journey of the Undersized Kid from Nowhere to World Series Champion," and "Tom Candiotti: A Life of Knuckleballs"

Category: Renfrew-Collingwood

On a Friday evening recently, I stopped by the nearby Sushi Royal House Japanese Restaurant on Grandview Hwy and Renfrew Street in East Vancouver.

I specifically wanted the Gamja Tang (pork back bone with vegetable hot pot), and ordered that, along with the Ika Karaage. The Gamja Tang was from their “Korean Dinner Special” menu, which was available from 3pm.

The waitress took the order, but came back a few minutes later to tell me that the Gamja Tang wasn’t available. Apparently, according to her, the restaurant was busy and didnt’ have that dish available; the wait would be an hour and she recommended that I ordered something else. (It was 5pm at the time and there were two other tables occupied at that moment, but I presume she meant it was busy earlier.)

So, I ordered the Jeyuk Bokkeum (spicy stir fried pork with rice) instead. As mentioned, I’d specifically wanted the pork bone hot pot soup, but the waitress was friendly and, hey, it wasn’t her fault, so it was all right.

I was at the Grandview Highway Pizza Hut on a Monday night, wanting to watch the fourth quarter of the Monday Night Football game between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

Unfortunately, they had the flatscreen on ABC, which was showing the game show “Jeopardy.”

Because she was busy, I didn’t get a chance to ask the server if it was possible to change the TV channel until I was halfway through my meal. She said she would ask the manager.

Alas, she didn’t come back with an answer until I was just wrapping up my meal. The answer was there was some issue with the TV, so they couldn’t do anything about it. I said it was okay – no big deal. (As it turned out, I missed a great ending as Pittsburgh was coming back during that time and eventually won on the last play of the game to come back from a 17-0 deficit.)

I ordered the Meaty Marinara – which was Italian-seasoned meat sauce and rotini pasta topped with pizza mozzarella.

The pasta was very filling, especially because it was served with breadsticks and I kept eating those things. Given the fact I’m not a big eater, I couldn’t finish either thing.

The TV thing was no issue. I was back five days later on a Saturday evening, and you might expect them to have Hockey Night in Canada on. But no, again it was ABC and they were showing some random program. I said nothing about the TV this time because it was no big deal.

I had their Creamy Chicken Alfredo, which was sliced grilled chicken breast tossed with rotini in alfredo sauce.

The big deal came when I was about 75% done with my meal. Now, this is not unusual in restaurants, where the server would bring your bill to your table and say, “No rush.” But in this instance when the (same) server brought my bill to my table, I wasn’t pleased because it felt like I was wasting their time and they were rushing me off. It wasn’t as though there were people wanting a table, so I was not pleased. I had thought about getting a dessert to go – I actually was – but since they weren’t welcoming me with this bill nonsense as I was still eating, I decided to forego the dessert.

So, I just had the pasta and that was it. It was creamy. Came with toast. It was good. The cubed chicken pieces were plentiful. It was all good.

The TV wasn’t a big deal. But rushing me off – or giving me the sense like they were doing that – means I will not be back anytime soon.

The one other comment is that on their menu, they had many of their items crossed out with some kind of black marker. Great. A restaurant without a full menu and too cheap to print out new ones.

Some of these visits were from the summer – and I’ve only gotten around to posting about them because I’d been working on my book for months and hadn’t had time to update this site regularly.

Back in July, I was looking to try some new restaurants/cafes and I stumbled upon Penang Delight Cafe on Rupert Street near East 22nd Avenue in East Vancouver.

Penang Delight is a Malaysian restaurant, and I remember from my visit that a talkative gentleman was the one who served me. I thought he was the owner – maybe he is.

Anyway, he spoke Cantonese to the other customers and talked to them quite frequently. I, meanwhile, was left alone.

It was at this restaurant, as I recall, that I gave the lowest tip I’ve ever given. I figured that the guy didn’t check on me at all – and since I assumed he was the owner, he presumably paid himself well and didn’t need tips to survive (unlike regular servers at other restaurants).

I ordered something called Nasi Lemak Rendang Lamb, which came with rice and was spicy. If you ordered this dish between 11:00 am to 2:30 pm, it was C$13.95. For dinner, though, it was C$14.95.

On another trip to Boteco Basil on Nanaimo Street and Broadway, I ordered the traditional Brazilian dishes.

First up, the Coxinhas, which is a popular Brazilian snack: crispy potato-based dough pockets stuffed with shredded chicken and spices. I couldn’t finish because I’m a small eater – this appetizer was very filling.

Next up was the Picanha, which is Brazilian sirloin steak. It’s a dish served with basmati rice, brown beans, and fried banana, among other things.

Very filling – both dishes – but at least it was a chance to try out the popular Brazilian dishes.

Sushi Royal House Japanese Restaurant on Grandview Highway in East Vancouver had a fire incident back in February and closed down for several months for renovations. It finally re-opened in October, and I’ve gone there a few times since then.

During one visit, I ordered their Spicy Pork Plate, which came with a bowl of rice and miso soup.

Fortunately, it wasn’t too spicy, and was delicious.

During a second visit, I had their Bulgogi Plate, which was a dish of grilled marinated beef.

Again, very delicious and with the meat juice in the dish…

Glad to see Sushi Royal House back again after the fire… Will be back again in the future.

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About “Let’s Eat Out Every Other Week”

KP Wee, the writer of this food blog, is a published author from Vancouver, Canada. He has written several books, including "Tom Candiotti: A Life of Knuckleballs" and "Fess Up, Jessup!" Check out KP's other food blog at letseatoutonceaweek.wordpress.com. He can be contacted at: kp.wee.is@gmail.com

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